# Specifying another language for specific words


*<lang>*

This tag is supported by generative, long-form, neural, and standard TTS formats. For generative voices, the `<lang>` tag can be used only around full sentences.

Specify another language for a specific word, phrase, or sentence with the <lang> tag. Foreign language words and phrases are generally spoken better when they are enclosed within a pair of `<lang>` tags. To specify the language, use the `xml:lang` attribute. For a complete list of available languages, see [Languages in Amazon Polly](supported-languages.md).

 Unless you apply the `<lang>` tag, all of the words in the input text are spoken in the language of the voice specified in the `voice-id`. If you apply the `<lang>` tag, the words are spoken in that language. 



For example, if the `voice-id` is Joanna (who speaks US English), Amazon Polly speaks the following in the Joanna voice without a French accent:

```
<speak>
     Je ne parle pas français.
</speak>
```



If you use the Joanna voice with the `<lang>` tag, Amazon Polly speaks the sentence in the Joanna voice in American-accented French:

```
<speak>
     <lang xml:lang="fr-FR">Je ne parle pas français.</lang>.
</speak>
```



Because Joanna is not a native French voice, pronunciation is based on her native language, US English. For example, although perfect French pronunciation features an uvual trill /R/ in the word *français*, Joanna's US English voice pronounces this phoneme as the corresponding sound /r/. 

If you use the `voice-id` of Giorgio, who speaks Italian, with the following text, Amazon Polly speaks the sentence in Giorgio's voice with an Italian pronunciation: 

```
<speak>
     Mi piace Bruce Springsteen.
</speak>
```



If you use the same voice with the following `<lang>` tag, Amazon Polly pronounces Bruce Springsteen in Italian-accented English: 

```
<speak>
     Mi piace <lang xml:lang="en-US">Bruce Springsteen.</lang>
</speak>
```

This tag can also be used as a substitute for the optional [DefaultLangCode](API_StartSpeechSynthesisTask.html#polly-StartSpeechSynthesisTask-request-DefaultLangCode) option when synthesizing speech. However, doing so requires that you format your text using SSML.